Pop-Art Face Paint Tutorial

I know this falls under SFX but a creepy skull header wasn’t so appropriate for a pop art tutorial so I stuck with my Blogmas header!

This is a look that has been done so many times but it’s the look I chose to create for an assessment at college. It’s basic, fun and perfect for a last minute costume. All you’d need to make this a costume is your own clothes!

I’ve not included step by step photos but have included an image of the final look that I did in college.

You Will Need:

Foundation Of Your Choice

Black Face Paint or Eyeliner

White Face Paint or Eyeliner/Lipstick

Red Lipstick

Face Paint Colour of Your Choice/Lipstick/Creme Colour

Paint Brushes/Fine Makeup Brushes

BeautyBlender or Foundation Brush

Step One:

Apply your foundation to your face as you normally would. You don’t need to contour or add blush as this look will be a flat look and any dimension is created with black lines to define features.

Step Two:

Take the black face paint or liner (I used Snazaroo paints) and a thin bristled brush. I started with the eyebrows and the way I got the semi-sad look was by drawing a normal brow but making the tail a little longer and thinner and flick up a little bit. The top of the front of the brow should come up into a small point almost like a little triangle.

Step Three:

Now you want to use that same black and paintbrush and decide which side of the face you want the most detail on because we’re going to work on the nose.

Trace a thin line from the bridge of the nose right the way down the nose to under the tip. You then want to trace around the side of the nostril and up the side of the nose to just below the tip. Only do this bit on the chosen side of your face.

Step Four:

Then, on the chosen side, trace the jawline from just below the ear to the front of the jaw at the chin. Again, you only want to do this on the chosen side because this is usually a look that looks most effective from the side.

Step Five:

Again on your chosen side, trace your cheek bone with a black line how you would apply your contour. A thin line that sits just below your cheek bone, down towards your mouth.

Step Six:

Now, apply red lipstick and line your lips with the black paint. While you wouldn’t normally do this because it looks really odd unless blended into an ombre, it fits this look so doesn’t look too garish.

On your lower lip, add a touch of white to mimic a highlight and make the lips look glossy.

Step Seven:

Draw a black line where the crease of the eye is and make sure you keep the one eye closed until the paint is dry so you don’t smudge it. Do this on both eyes and it’s optional but you could draw on eyeliner and add extra wings to give the illusion of long lashes.

Step Eight:

With the end of a small paintbrush or makeup brush, dip the round end into the colour of your choice (I chose pink) and start dotting the pink dots over the face. I worked in lines down the face and then across rather than randomly placed dots. This takes time so you will need some patience to cover the entire face. You could even bring them down the neck but this is based on personal preference.

And that’s the look done!

It’s a really easy look and doesn’t take much experience to look really quite effective. I have no idea what I scored on this but my tutor was suitably impressed and for once, I was happy with the outcome too!

This is a popular and common look to do purely because it takes no skills whatsoever. The only thing you really need is a pretty steady hand.

But this is perfect for a quick halloween or costume party and now I’ve done it a few times, I’ll most likely be doing this next year at halloween!